BACKGROUND


La Paz, the capitol of the state of Baja California Sur, is a beautiful, quiet city located on the Sea of Cortez 900 driving miles south of San Diego.  Until the highway was completed in the 1970's, La Paz was a sleepy fishing village, with few visitors other than fishermen and those with private airplanes.  Then things began to change.
        During the 70’s and 80’s, a building boom began in La Paz and other parts of Baja California Sur, and workmen poured into the area from the Mexican mainland of Mexico, bringing their wives and children.  Many men worked on short-lived construction jobs and, not finding other employment, returned to their birthplaces, leaving their wives and children behind to fend for themselves. Others, who stayed in La Paz, often weren’t able to find full time jobs and couldn’t support their families.  Often men who work as laborers are paid minimum wages, the equivalent of $10 to $20 U.S. daily. Some of the women must support their children on even less by doing domestic work.
            Presently resort, hotel and condominium construction is booming again, and laborers are being imported from the mainland for these projects, and the same cycle will repeat.  When the job is over, even more wives and children will be left behind.
     Colonias Marquez de Leon,  Laguna Azul, Villas de Guadalupe, Vista Hermosa and Loma Obrera are among the poorest neighborhoods located on the outskirts of La Paz, near the City dump.  None of the houses have piped-in water or sewer systems; some homes have no electricity installed.  The majority of the houses are constructed of tarpaper or cardboard.  Many are single-parent households; in others the man of the house is not able to work because of an injury or sickness.  Problems of alcoholism and drug use prevail throughout the neighborhoods.  Some people from these colonias must scavenge in the dumps for food, clothing and other discarded items they may be able to use or sell to neighbors.
     Young boys from these neighborhoods often try to find work washing cars or windows; in some households children work in the family taco stand or other business instead of going to school. In parts of the jurisdiction of La Paz children work in the fields to help with the family income.  Numerous children sniff glue for recreation, and sometimes become involved with dangerous drugs and prostitution.
   In 1996, some of the present associates of Fundación Ayuda Niños La Paz, A.C., got involved with a breakfast kitchen in a small chapel owned by the Catholic Church.  With the help of donations from Club Cruceros de La Paz, A.C., an association of “foreign” boat owners, and members of the Mexican Community, we contributed food to the breakfasts.  At times as many as 120 children came to breakfast three days a week before going to school.
We wanted to do more for these children who had stolen our hearts.  Many of them are willing to study and are eager to continue their education beyond the 6th grade.